


Life, Love, and Other Things That Matter

by somnivagrantTraviatus



Series: Time, Space, and Other Things That Don't Matter [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, basically the events of the 50th, but with more skeletons, i have too many ideas for this au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 11:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7755946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somnivagrantTraviatus/pseuds/somnivagrantTraviatus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans made a mistake. Together, he and the Doctor are going to fix it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Reality was tearing itself apart.

They could both feel it, their senses shrieking as the universe tried anything it could to remove the tumor of an unhealthy event. 

The Doctor winced. “i know you were under time constraints, bro, but was destroying our whole planet _really_ the best thing you could think of?”

“shut up,” Sans growled back at him, flipping a switch with perhaps a touch more force than was really necessary and popping to the other side of the console to continue pressing buttons. “you weren’t there. the daleks - they were everywhere, and the time lords were everywhen. if i hadn’t done anything -”

“yeah, yeah, it woulda been catastrophic. i know.” The Doctor glanced at his brother. “uh, y’want any help with that?”

Sans huffed, rolling his eyes. “nah, i like it when you stare at me instead’a makin’ yourself useful while we’re under pressure. ‘s my favorite thing in the world, right after blowin’ up innocent planets for no reason.”

“sheesh,” the Doctor complained, joining his brother at the console. He stared at it a second, flexing his fingers, then got to work fiddling with the controls. “that wasn’t what i meant and you know it,” he continued. “i just meant… maybe you wouldn’ta had to if you’d told me where you were goin’ instead of just swanning off who knows where by yourself and moping when you get back. i know you can handle yourself, bro, but sometimes it feels like you don’t trust me to help ya with your problems.”

The shorter Time Lord avoided his eyes, and the Doctor sighed. “i know you’re just tryin’ to protect me. hell, i do the same thing. like, y’know that time i came back with a crack over my eye socket and i told you it was cuz i bumped into the doorframe?”

“...yeah?”

“it wasn’t the doorframe. undyne got a little reckless in one of our sessions again.”

“ **She did _what_.** ”

“chill, bro. it was last regeneration. ‘m fine.” He tossed Sans a reassuring grin. “but you see my point. i get it, i really do, but we’re a team. we can’t keep secrets from each other. not like this. how’m i supposed to keep you safe if i don’t know what kinda trouble you’ve gotten yourself into this time?”

Sans chuckled reluctantly. “yeah. okay.”

“so, you’ll talk to me next time? you won’t come up with some crazy plan you hafta do by yourself, and leave me behind to pick up the pieces while refusing to tell me anything ‘bout what you did?”

But Sans still wouldn’t meet his eyes, gaze focused on the console as he expertly manipulated the controls. “yeah. next time, i’ll tell you everything.”

“y’promise?” He could hear the hope in his tone, and winced. “...sorry. i shouldn’t-”

“bro.” Their eyes locked. Reluctantly, Sans grinned, baring the points of his sharp fangs. “i promise,” he said.

There was a moment of hushed silence. Finally, Papyrus grinned back, and they both went back to working on the console.

“so,” the Doctor said, business-like once again. “what’s the plan?”

“plan is, ‘i’ve been a little busy tryin’ to navigate th’paradox stream to come up with a plan’,” Sans snarked, triumphantly throwing one last switch as the TARDIS juddered to a halt. The doors flared wide, revealing a bustling Gallifreyan street outside of a dingy alleyway, and Sans looked away. “you should try finding me. he’ll listen to you if you tell ‘im there’s a new plan. you remember the secret code words, right?”

The Doctor snickered. “‘i’m a stupid doo-doo butt.’ and ‘i’m the legendary fart master.’”

“you got it,” Sans grinned. “‘n remember, you were doin’ laundry that day. i was in that black cowl from my old reaper costume, not the blue hood.”

“yeah, yeah.” The Doctor waved off his brother’s concern with a grin of his own. “‘m off to go give the space-time continuum another hernia, i guess. you gonna wait here?”

“yeah.” Sans tossed his brother a thumbs-up and leaned nonchalantly against the console. “i’m good. go stop me from blowing up the planet.”

The Doctor threw him a lazy salute on his way out the door. “will do.”

As soon as his brother left the TARDIS, Sans flew into a flurry of activity. “‘s never gonna work,” he muttered, kneeling by the hatch in the floor and tugging at it. It didn’t budge, and he glared up at the console. “this isn’t maintenance, g, y’don’t get to pout til i leave you alone. c’mon, open up!”

The lights flickered and went out. 

Sans rolled his eyes. “fuck you, too.” With a grunt of effort, he stood, pulling himself up by the console. “i can _make_ you open up,” he threatened, pulling his blaster from his pocket and leveling it at the hatch. “you might be a ship, but i bet it’d hurt.”

Some kind of alarm blared deep in the ship, and a tremor rolled through the room as it de- and rematerialized. Startled, Sans fell backwards into the console, accidentally pulling a switch as he struggled to keep from toppling over.

“ _what_ is your _problem_?!” he growled. “‘m trying to fix my mistakes! aren’tcha supposed to be _proud_ of that sorta thing?!”

“what do you mean, ‘tryin’ to fix your mistakes’?” The Doctor’s voice was low, and Sans whirled, drops of sweat beading on his skull. “sans. what’s goin’ on here?”

“i- uh, bro- this ain’t what it looks like -” Sans stammered, and the Doctor sighed.

“th’ point of promises is usually that you’re supposed t’try to keep ‘em,” he pointed out.

Sans grimaced. “i said _next time_.”

“heh. alright, that’s fair, i guess.” The Doctor came over and stood next to him, dropping a hand on his brother’s shoulder and ignoring the slight flinch. “so. what’s going on?”

“you're not gonna like it.” Sans’s voice was resigned, but he leaned into his brother’s hand. “you know i’m destined t’blow it all up. talkin’ to me isn't gonna stop anything.”

The Doctor paused. “you know how i feel about destiny, sans.”

“yeah, yeah, i know. but you can’t stop this from happening.”

The silence that followed was answer enough.

Sans snorted. “thought so.” He tapped the hatch with a foot. “if we can’t stop me from blowin’ it up, we gotta focus on the other half’a the equation. long as he presses the button, we can move everything else outta the way.”

“you wanna move the whole _planet_ out of the blasting radius? but that’d take...” The Doctor trailed off as his gaze went to the hatch, and Sans grinned humorlessly.

“an immense amount of power. yeah. toldja you wouldn’t like it.”

“sans, you can’t open yourself to the heart of the tardis. it’ll kill you! i- i won’t-”

“‘s the only way, boss.” Sans shrugged, a resigned grin on his face.

Papyrus flinched. “...don’t call me that.”

“‘s what you are, yeah?” Sans’s eyes were sincere as he looked up at him. “you’re the doctor. i’m the assistant. that’s why i’ve gotta be the one to do this. you’re too important t’throw away a whole regeneration just to clean up after my mistakes.”

Papyrus’s mouth set in a determined line. “if you’re going, i’m going too.”

“w-what? boss, you can’t -”

“i can, and i will.”

“but-”

“i’m not more important than you, sans!” Both skeletons flinched, equally taken aback by the force in Papyrus’s normally even tone. “assistant or not, more than anything, you’re my brother,” he said, wiping away the tears gathering in the corners of his brother’s eye sockets. “and i’m just a dumb time lord, muddling along and tryin’ to do the right thing. how… how long’ve you been thinking of yourself like you’re beneath me?”

Sans refused to meet his eyes, and Papyrus sighed. “you don’t have to answer that,” he said, and pulled Sans into a much-needed hug.

“like i needed your permission.” Sans buried his head in his brother’s shoulder. “‘m plenty good at avoidin’ stuff by myself.”

“yeah, i noticed,” Papyrus answered dryly.

The lights flickered back on, and both Time Lords raised their heads. “looks like gaster’s gotten over his hissy fit,” Sans said, wiggling loose from his brother’s grip and crawling over to the hatch.

“wait, what?”

“i never toldja?” Sans looked back over his shoulder. “gaster didn’t just die in that explosion. we were workin’ on the tardis here, so everything was wide open. he fell into the heart. ‘s why everyone forgot - his entire time stream got sucked in.”

Papyrus’s expression was indescribable. “my dad is a spaceship.”

“yep. the best spaceship.”

“we’re sitting inside our father.”

“well, i’m kneeling, if you wanna get technical.” Sans laughed at how his brother’s face had scrunched up. “yeah, it’s fuckin’ weird. you get used to it.”

Papyrus shook his head. “i’ll just hafta trust you on that, i guess.” He came over to sit next to his brother. “you ready?”

“no,” Sans confessed.

“heh. me neither.”

Together, they gripped the hatch and pulled it open.

A flood of gold reached out to meet them, and they fell.


	2. Chapter 2

When their eyes opened, the first thing they noticed was how the pressure in their heads had disappeared. Either the discomfort in the fabric of space-time had disappeared, or the power they were feeling was strong enough that the snaggle didn’t affect them anymore. Either proposition was a strange one.

“Oh, my boys,” a voice said. “I am so glad to see you again. At last.”

“g-gaster?” Sans spoke first, eyes wide as he scanned around for his father. “you’re really here?”

“Inasmuch as I am anywhere, I suppose.” The voice came from everywhere at once. “No, stop that. You will not be able to see me, and I would prefer it if you kept from making yourself dizzy for nothing.”

Sheepishly, Sans stopped. “too everywhere to be in one place still, huh?”

“Yes, you could say that.” Though there was no body to go with the voice, Papyrus distinctly felt his father’s attention shift to him. “You’ve grown up well, I see. Though I wish, selfishly, that you would have stayed yourself from harm, the experiences have been good for you.”

“yeah, i guess,” Papyrus answered awkwardly. “sorry. i wish i could say i remember you, but…”

“No, don’t apologize, Papyrus. I completely understand.”

“pap’s the doctor now,” Sans said. It was level enough to be mistaken for an offhand remark, except for how his grip tightened around his brother’s hand.

“Yes. And you are the Assistant.” Gaster’s voice sounded somewhere between proud and disapproving. “I am proud, of course, that you take so much pride in having assisted me in the past-that-never-was, and in continuing to assist your brother. But you know how it worries me that you have no ambitions of your own.”

“hey, we’ve been through this, dad. you know all i want is for you two t’be happy.”

“An admirable goal, Sans. But are _you_ happy?”

The grin sublimated off Sans’s face. 

Papyrus sighed fondly and put his arm around his smaller brother, bundling him in to his side. “he’s working on it. we both are.”

“I am glad to hear that.” Gaster’s voice was just as fond. “That is all I’ve ever wanted for the both of you, you know. For you to be together, and happy.”

Both brothers were struck silent, now, and Gaster laughed. But the moment passed all too quickly.

“Much as I would wish it to be otherwise, I am afraid our time is limited. If you are to save Gallifrey, we must act quickly.”

“right.” Papyrus took charge instinctively, then winced. But Sans patted his arm with a wink, completely unphased, and the taller Time Lord continued. “we need to, uh, wake up? so we can move it somewhere else. i’m thinking we’ll put it in a pocket dimension or something, where everyone can live out their days without being able to hurt anyone else again. that sound doable?”

“sounds good to me. let’s do it.”

“It is an excellent plan, yes. You are aware, however, that it will require you to remain on the other side of the breach? You will never be able to return.”

Papyrus swallowed. “let’s be honest, i haven’t really missed gallifrey since we left.” He shrugged, falsely confident. “better alive and somewhere else than here and dead, right?”

Sans grinned up at him, just as falsely. “least we’ll have each other.”

“yeah.”

“Well, then. If your minds are made up…”

The golden haze receded from their eyes. The brothers were floating in space, just outside of Gallifrey’s atmosphere. They looked at each other, bewildered, just as everything stopped.

_Quickly. Sans has just pressed the button. We can only keep time stopped for so long._

“right. let’s do it.”

“sounds great, but how?”

_I will guide you._

Sans’s eyes widened. “i get it!” He turned to Papyrus. “i got the breach. you push it in.”

The knowledge flooded into his head, and Papyrus nodded. It was simple. “got it. ready when you are.”

Eyes burning gold, Sans raised his hands, then swiftly brought them down, leaving trails of gold. There was a sickening tearing sound as reality was ripped apart twice over.

_Go._

Papyrus activated his Blue Mode. With a sense he hadn’t known he had, he found the soul of the planet itself, then that of the Dalek fleet, and turned their gravity to the holes in space and time.

They vanished into the rends.

Gallifrey, and the Daleks, no longer existed in this reality.

Panting and sweating with the exertion, Sans sealed the breaches. Papyrus let go of the Blue Mode, feeling pretty winded himself.

_You have both done very well. I am so, so proud of you._

“that it?” Sans gasped.

“looks like it.”

With the last of their energy, they took themselves back to their ship. Sans collapsed to the floor as soon as there was one beneath him. Papyrus lasted a couple of seconds longer, but ultimately followed.

“y’know,” Sans remarked philosophically, “they always said lookin’ into the heart would kill ya, but somehow, i never thought it’d hurt this much.”

Papyrus laughed. “least you’ve still got a sense of humor about it, i guess.”

“nothin’ else i can do, right?”

Their hands sought each other as their souls began to flare with light.

“together, this time,” Papyrus said.

Sans smiled. “together.”

 _Yes_ , Gaster agreed. _Together._


	3. Chapter 3

When the fire faded, the first thing they saw was each other.

Sans was taller, with a crack above his right eye and a slightly leaner frame. The Doctor was also slightly taller, though it was more difficult to see on him. He had a crack, too, trailing down from his left eye socket.

“Welp,” Sans said, testing out his voice and startling when it came out deeper than he was used to. “That, uh, happened. I guess.”

“Indeed,” the Doctor agreed, voice mellow and only a little deeper than his first regeneration’s. He grimaced, raising a hand to where his throat would be. “My, this is strange.” He looked around. “Gaster? Are you still there?”

There was silence. But, deep within their souls, something warmed.

“Uh. So, I may have a theory,” Sans said. “But it’s pretty weird, I’m warning you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Alright. So, we absorbed the energy from the heart of the TARDIS. Right?”

“Correct.”

“And the heart of the TARDIS is where Gaster’s residual soul energy has been hanging out for… uh, a while.”

“I will have to trust you on that, but, yes, it sounds correct.”

“So,” Sans said, then, all in a rush, continued, “what if when we absorbed the energy from the heart of the TARDIS, we also absorbed a little bit of Gaster, which followed us through our subsequent regenerations, thereby subtly influencing our forms and personalities?”

There was a brief pause as the Doctor considered that. “You’re right,” he finally concluded. “It is very strange, and I think I’d rather not think about it too hard.”

Sans laughed. “Fair enough. You want to head to the wardrobe and pick out some more suit-able clothing?”

“We have not been ourselves for two minutes, and you are already trying my patience with your puns,” the Doctor grumbled, smiling despite himself. “Ignoring that, however: yes, I would like to visit the wardrobe now.”

“Cool.” Sans went to stick his hands in his pockets, but the jacket was too small on him, now, and his hands completely missed them. He folded his arms behind his back instead, then winced at the familiarity of the gesture and let them come to rest at his sides. “Uh. After you, I guess.”

The Doctor chuckled, patting his brother on the back. “We’ll work it out.” Brushing past him, he called, “What kind of clothes do you suppose you’ll choose this time?”

“I’m thinking a bomber jacket,” Sans said, following his brother to the wardrobe.

“You and your jackets.”

“Hey, they’re comfy!” Sans grinned, absentmindedly noting the way the motion pulled at the new crack in his skull. “How about you?”

“I believe I shall go with a trenchcoat, this time around,” the Doctor mused. “Perhaps with some sort of scarf.”

“Hah! You and your scarves!”

“Yes, alright, we both have an unhealthy attraction to specific articles of clothing,” the Doctor replied, laughter in his voice. “Which means that you should have no objection if I do _this_!”

The orange pullover whapped Sans in the face, and he jolted, before starting to laugh himself. “Hey, no fair!”

“And why not?”

There was a long pause as Sans tried to come up with some kind of pun, but finally, he just shrugged. “Eh, I got nothin’.”

They both laughed at that.

When he reached the door to the wardrobe, Papyrus turned around. “Sans?”

“Yeah, bro?”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

A genuine smile bloomed over Sans’s skull. “Yeah. I’m glad you’re here, too.”


End file.
